Dunkirk
[duhn-kurk]
- French Dun·kerque [dœn-kerk] /dœ̃ˈkɛrk/. a seaport in N France: site of the evacuation of a British expeditionary force of over 330,000 men under German fire May 29–June 4, 1940.
- a period of crisis or emergency when drastic measures must be enforced: The smaller nations were facing a financial Dunkirk.
- a city in W New York, on Lake Erie.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for dunkirk
Contemporary Examples
He began showing some promise in 2003, taking fifth place at race known as the Four Days of Dunkirk in May of that year.
Speed Read: Eight Shocking Bits From the USADA’s Lance Armstrong ReportLaura Colarusso, Nina Strochlic
October 11, 2012
That was an “Obama initiative” in about the same way that Dunkirk was a Churchill initiative.
Historical Examples
But Dunkirk in that year of grace, 1917, did not always wear so peaceful a garb.
Submarine Warfare of To-dayCharles W. Domville-Fife
Then the summer night regained its tranquillity and Dunkirk slept.
Submarine Warfare of To-dayCharles W. Domville-Fife
Both Calais and Dunkirk were bombarded by German destroyers.
As a result of the attack on Dunkirk one French destroyer was sunk.
This is no longer the France that remembers an English commissary at Dunkirk.
Tom Burke Of "Ours", Volume I (of II)Charles James Lever
Word Origin and History for dunkirk
Dunkirk
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Dunkirk
The scene of a remarkable, though ignominious, retreat by the British army in World War II. Dunkirk, a town on the northern coast of France, was the last refuge of the British during the fall of France, and several hundred naval and civilian vessels took the troops back to England in shifts over three days.
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Note
The term Dunkirk is sometimes used to signify a desperate retreat.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.